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Latest News and Research

Modified superconductor synapse reveals exotic electron behavior
Scientists see signs of quantum states with boosted immunity.

Electrons tend to avoid one another as they go about their business carrying current. But certain devices, cooled to near zero temperature, can coax these loner particles out of their shells. In extreme cases, electrons will interact in unusual ways, causing strange quantum entities to emerge. At the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI), Jimmy Williams’ group is working to develop new circuitry that could host such exotic states. These states have a feature that may make them useful in future quantum computers: They appear to be inherently protected from the destructive but unavoidable imperfections found in fabricated circuits. As described recently in Physical... Continue Reading
JQI scientists Monroe and Gorshkov are part of a new, $15 million NSF quantum computing project

NSF has announced a $15 million award to a collaboration of seven institutions, including the University of Maryland. The goal: Build the world’s first practical quantum computer."Quantum computers will change everything about the technology we use and how we use it, and we are still taking the initial steps toward realizing this goal," said NSF Director France Córdova. "Developing the first practical quantum computer would be a major milestone. By bringing together experts who have outlined a path to a practical quantum computer and supporting its development, NSF is working to take the quantum revolution from theory to reality."Dubbed the... Continue Reading
Complexity test offers new perspective on small quantum computers

State-of-the-art quantum devices are not yet large enough to be called full-scale computers. The biggest comprise just a few dozen qubits—a meager count compared to the billions of bits in an ordinary computer’s memory. But steady progress means that these machines now routinely string together 10 or 20 qubits and may soon hold sway over 100 or more.In the meantime, researchers are busy dreaming up uses for small quantum computers and mapping out the landscape of problems they’ll be suited to solving. A paper by researchers from the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) and the Joint Center for Quantum Information and... Continue Reading
Semiconductor quantum transistor opens the door for photon-based computing

Transistors are tiny switches that form the bedrock of modern computing—billions of them route electrical signals around inside a smartphone, for instance.

Quantum computers will need analogous hardware to manipulate quantum information. But the design constraints for this new technology are stringent, and today’s most advanced processors can’t be repurposed as quantum devices. That’s because quantum information carriers, dubbed qubits, have to follow different rules laid out by quantum physics. 

Scientists can use many kinds of quantum particles as qubits, even the photons that make up light. Photons have added appeal because they can swiftly shuttle information over long distances and they are compatible with fabricated chips. However, making a quantum transistor triggered by light has been challenging because it requires...Continue Reading
Quantum gas reveals first signs of path-bending monopole

Magnets, whether in the form of a bar, horseshoe or electromagnet, always have two poles. If you break a magnet in half, you’ll end up with two new magnets, each with its own magnetic north and south.But some physics theories predict the existence of single-pole magnets—a situation akin to electric charges, which come in either positive or negative chunks. One particular incarnation—called the Yang monopole after its discoverer—was originally predicted in the context of high-energy physics, but it has never been observed. Now, a team at JQI led by postdoctoral researcher Seiji Sugawa and JQI Fellow Ian Spielman have succeeded in... Continue Reading
Eliot Fenton recognized as a Maryland ‘Undergraduate Researcher of the Year’

Eliot Fenton, UMD physics major, was among those recognized as a 2018 Maryland ‘Undergraduate Researcher of the Year.’ This award is eligible for exemplary seniors who have been nominated by their faculty advisors.  Fenton earned this award for his wide-ranging experimental physics research accomplishments.

From 2015-2017 Fenton worked on optical nanofibers with JQI Fellow and UMD Physics Professor Luis Orozco. Recently, Fenton along with fellow undergraduate researcher Adnan Khan (now a graduate student at University of Washington), together with colleagues, published a study of how light interacts with an optical nanofiber’s mechanical movements. Last year, Fenton co-authored a paper that detailed precise measurements of an...Continue Reading
JQI alumnus Pablo Solano awarded dissertation prize

Pablo Solano, a recent graduate student with JQI Fellow and UMD physics professor Luis Orozco, has been awarded the Charles A. Caramello Distinguished Dissertation Prize. According to the official award description, the prize recognizes “original work that makes an unusually significant contribution to its discipline.” The prize is given in four broad disciplinary areas and comes with an honorarium.

Solano received the prize in the area of Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering for his dissertation titled “Quantum Optics in Optical Nanofibers”. His research focused on studying the properties of light as it propagates through optical nanofibers, and how such a system enables special atom-light interactions. His thesis work was nominated by the...Continue Reading
Latest nanowire experiment boosts confidence in Majorana sighting
New test matches theory and offers the best evidence yet for the oddball particles.

In the latest experiment of its kind, researchers have captured the most compelling evidence to date that unusual particles lurk inside a special kind of superconductor. The result, which confirms theoretical predictions first made nearly a decade ago at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) and the University of Maryland (UMD), will be published in the April 5 issue of Nature. The stowaways, dubbed Majorana quasiparticles, are different from ordinary matter like electrons or quarks—the stuff that makes up the elements of the periodic table. Unlike those particles, which as far as physicists know can’t be broken down into more basic pieces, Majorana... Continue Reading
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Latest News and Research

  • Modified superconductor synapse reveals exotic electron behavior
    Scientists see signs of quantum states with boosted immunity.

    Electrons tend to avoid one another as they go about their business carrying current. But certain devices, cooled to near zero temperature, can coax these loner particles out of their shells. In extreme cases, electrons will interact in unusual ways, causing strange quantum entities to emerge. At the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI), Jimmy Williams’ group is working to develop new circuitry that... Continue Reading
  • JQI scientists Monroe and Gorshkov are part of a new, $15 million NSF quantum computing project

    NSF has announced a $15 million award to a collaboration of seven institutions, including the University of Maryland. The goal: Build the world’s first practical quantum computer."Quantum computers will change everything about the technology we use and how we use it, and we are still taking the initial steps toward realizing this goal," said NSF Director France Córdova. "Developing the first... Continue Reading
  • Complexity test offers new perspective on small quantum computers

    State-of-the-art quantum devices are not yet large enough to be called full-scale computers. The biggest comprise just a few dozen qubits—a meager count compared to the billions of bits in an ordinary computer’s memory. But steady progress means that these machines now routinely string together 10 or 20 qubits and may soon hold sway over 100 or more.In the meantime, researchers are busy... Continue Reading
  • Semiconductor quantum transistor opens the door for photon-based computing
  • Quantum gas reveals first signs of path-bending monopole

    Magnets, whether in the form of a bar, horseshoe or electromagnet, always have two poles. If you break a magnet in half, you’ll end up with two new magnets, each with its own magnetic north and south.But some physics theories predict the existence of single-pole magnets—a situation akin to electric charges, which come in either positive or negative chunks. One particular incarnation—called the... Continue Reading
  • Eliot Fenton recognized as a Maryland ‘Undergraduate Researcher of the Year’
  • JQI alumnus Pablo Solano awarded dissertation prize
  • Latest nanowire experiment boosts confidence in Majorana sighting
    New test matches theory and offers the best evidence yet for the oddball particles.

    In the latest experiment of its kind, researchers have captured the most compelling evidence to date that unusual particles lurk inside a special kind of superconductor. The result, which confirms theoretical predictions first made nearly a decade ago at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) and the University of Maryland (UMD), will be published in the April 5 issue of Nature. The... Continue Reading
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Recent Publications

"Topological lattice using multi-frequency radiation," T. Andrijauskas, I.B. Spielman, G. Juzeliunas, NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 055001, 20 (2018)
"Disorder-induced half-integer quantized conductance plateau in quantum anomalous Hall insulator-superconductor structures," Y. Huang, F. Setiawan, J.D. Sau, PHYSICAL REVIEW B, 100501, 97 (2018)
"Optomechanical approach to controlling the temperature and chemical potential of light," C.H. Wang, J.M. Taylor, PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 033850, 97 (2018)
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Upcoming Events

JQI Special Seminar
September 25, 2018
Feedback-stabilised quantum states in a mixed-species ion system
Vlad Negnevitsky | ETH, Zurich
Physics Colloquium
September 25, 2018
Putting to test the Standard Model of Particle Physics
Alberto Belloni | University of Maryland
JQI-QuICS-CMTC Seminar
September 28, 2018
Electromagnetically induced transparency in inhomogeneously broadened solid-state systems
Haoquan Fan | Army Research Laboratory and JQI
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